Misc. Golden Gate Park

July 20, 2012October 28, 2013

The National AIDS Memorial Grove: Grief and Beauty

Located in Golden Gate Park, the National AIDS Memorial Grove is a testament to love and grief. According to the website:

The National AIDS Memorial Grove, located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, is a dedicated space in the national landscape where millions of Americans touched directly or indirectly by AIDS can gather to heal, hope, and remember. For all the promising prospects on the horizon, AIDS continues to invade our lives, violate our past, and rob us of our comfortable assumptions about the future. The sacred ground of this living memorial honors all who have confronted this tragic pandemic both those who have died and those who have shared their struggle, kept the vigils, and supported each other during the final hours.

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July 11, 2012August 12, 2013

Another Visit to the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park

In June, I posted about a trip to the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park. We went there for a second visit and saw many more roses in bloom.

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June 29, 2012November 25, 2012

Golden Gate Park: Unexplored Trails

At 1017 acres, Golden Gate Park is the largest park in San Francisco. It’s even bigger than Central Park in New York which is 843 acres. We have brought you pictures from our adventures in the Arboretum, Stow Lake, and the Japanese Tea Garden. Winding around the park between all those areas are a multitude of little unexplored trails and park gems. Well, they’re unexplored by us, at any rate.

This little trail is located near the Conservatory of Flowers.

June 18, 2012August 12, 2013

Rosy Monday

We should all take time to smell the roses. However, until computers come in scratch ‘n sniff, we’ll have to make due with a few photos. We went to Golden Gate Park early, as usual, so we had to play “dodge the sprinklers”. It’s worth it though as the park is quiet at that time.

Here are my favorite pics from that trip. I have named the roses where I could.

Here are a few other flower posts
A San Francisco Flower Adventure
Battle of the Sprinklers at the Arboretum in Golden Gate Park: Part 1
Battle of the Sprinklers at the Arboretum in Golden Gate Park: Part 2

February 29, 2012October 18, 2013

Fake Tales of San Francisco: Name That Movie

Over the years, the city of San Francisco has starred in quite a few books, movies and tv shows. Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood have driven its streets. Dashiell Hammett also made San Francisco the stage of The Maltese Falcon. One can even take a 4 hour Dashiell Hammett walking tour. Contagion was one of the more recent movies that was filmed here. It is also the host of the headquarters and council chambers of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet.

Not long ago we watched a movie starring our wonderful city. Watching it, I realized that I had photos of almost every place that was important to the story and I decided to play a little game. I’m going to post the photos and maybe you can figure out which movie we watched. I don’t think it will be difficult for the movie buffs out there.

Lloyd Lake — The Pillars of the Past is the first landmark mentioned in the movie, though not shown

900 Lombard was the home of the leading male character

The Brocklebank building at 1000 Mason on Nob Hill was where the leading female character lived

The characters visited other places in and out of The City. I present them in no particular order.

Mission Dolores, the site of a mysterious grave

The California Palace of the Legion of Honor was home to a mysterious painting

The two lead characters paid a visit to Muir Woods, North of San Francisco

The movie couple took a stroll around the Palace of Fine Arts

Fort Point, the site of major drama. The chain link fence was erected after 9/11 and was not present in the movie

If you have figured it out already, good for you. For those still struggling, I have placed several photos below the fold that should provide the answer.

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January 19, 2012October 18, 2013

A Windmill and a Sunset: Part 2

The other day, I posted Windmills and a Sunset: Part 1. Today I’m posting part 2. We enjoyed the sunset so much that we went back the next day. I managed to take a few more photos of the newly restored Murphy windmill.

From there, we drove about a block West to Ocean Beach to watch the sunset.

Once the sun dropped below the horizon, the colors went from golden orange to a stunning pink and purple.

January 17, 2012October 18, 2013

Windmills and a Sunset: Part 1

In a previous post, I had discussed the newly restored Murphy windmill at Golden Gate Park. The other day, while we were out, we went to Sutro Heights. I wanted to get a photo showing the Dutch Windmill and the Murphy Windmill in the same photo.

With that accomplished we walked over toward the parapet to look out over the Pacific Ocean. That is when we realized that the sunset might be a good one. We headed down to Ocean Beach to watch. It was beautiful.

January 11, 2012October 10, 2013

Golden Gate Park and the Murphy Windmill

When I moved here back in 2002, I knew about the Dutch windmill. I didn’t know about the Murphy windmill. The Dutch windmill, also known as the North windmill is very popular with tourists and has a wonderful tulip garden.

Not having been raised here, I was unaware of the Murphy windmill. Also known as the South Windmill, it had fallen into disrepair. It was designated landmark 210 and efforts were made to save it.

The Murphy and Dutch windmills pumped the water that fed Golden Gate Park. After electric pumps were installed in 1913, they were neglected. By 1993, the Murphy had lost its sails, fan tail and deck. When I moved here, this was all that was left as the rest had been sent to Holland for repairs.

This last year, the restored parts came back to San Francisco and the Murphy windmill was restored to its original glory. It was a sight to behold.

Be sure to visit both windmills should you ever come to our lovely city.

November 23, 2011October 10, 2013

Fall Colors

Living in San Francisco, we don’t have the extreme weather changes that other places get. However, we do have a few trees that are changing color and the rains have started.

The other day, we were at Golden Gate Park killing time waiting for the SFSPCA to open so that we could go adopt Miss Nightshade Jenny. We went to go check out one of our favorite spots. I’m glad we did.

August 25, 2011October 18, 2013

Golden Gate Park, Stow Lake and a Waterfall

One of our favorite spots in the city is Stow Lake. Located in the middle of Golden Gate Park, Stow Lake is definitely one of the nicer features. Lastech took some nice photos last time we strolled around it.

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